


AItober 2020

by IRegretNothingAndEverything



Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Allergies, Angst, Bees, Birds, Bruises, Bubby Introspection, Bubby uses he/him and xe/xem, Character Study, Coomer uses he/him and it/its, Feral Behavior, Fluff, Found Family Science Team, Hospitalization, Hurt/Comfort, Inhuman Tommy, Kinda, NPC Thoughts, Puppies, Reality manipulation, Resonance Cascade, Soda, THE PUPPIES ARE HERE, Tags will be updated as this goes on!, Teen Joshua, Time Manipulation, Tree Houses, and bubby thinks thats just the most fucked up shit, barnacles, bee allergy, benrey uses he/him they/them and dae/daem, birds have hollow bones, bubby gets a pet headcrab, darnold is genderfluid so whatever pronouns he uses is what that's that day is, drinking soda but ferally, forzen uses they/them, gman has no pronouns, headcrabs, names it bitch, oh pronoun rundown before i get too far, soft, that should be... everyone?, the soda puppies :), tommy and gordon both just use he/him, tommy is not human, very vague on that one, welp, why are all of these including bubby, you know who my favorite is :)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 13,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26743507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IRegretNothingAndEverything/pseuds/IRegretNothingAndEverything
Summary: My writings for the AItober event going on! Usually disconnected one shots from one another, will mention if they are connected to anything!
Comments: 69
Kudos: 151





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1: Res Cas

Tommy was used to this sort of thing. The universe was in his hands, held around him carefully, nothing really out of the blue. He felt the collider go unstable seconds before it actually happened, precious seconds to prepare them all for the inevitable hell, and then Bubby was slipping through the window, Gordon and Benrey were already down there, Coomer was next to him, but completely unsafe, and Tommy had a few choices he had to make in that moment. 

Benrey wouldn’t die like this. Tommy knew that, Benrey was going to be fine. He didn’t connect to them, but curled protection around Gordon, despite the fact that he knew that Gordon was likely to be fine, with the HEV suit, but that didn’t mean Tommy didn’t worry. Coomer was his second priority here, completely unsafe in the open window. 

Bubby was a whole separate case. The world shook around them, and Tommy, in a moment of panic, slingshotted Bubby into a different part of the facility, into a different area, just to be sure he didn’t have to expend too much energy keeping him safe. Bubby would be confused, disoriented, and probably have a killer headache, but safe. 

In the end, the world crumbling around them, Tommy shifted, form dissolving, leaving him completely nothing. It would be fine, Tommy could snap back in seconds if he so desired, but for now, he took it to expend more energy into keeping his friends safe. Coomer would be fine, Bubby was safe, and Gordon would live. Benrey could take care of himself. 

In seconds, the world shattered around them, and Tommy settled back into a human shaped form, knowing something big had happened, and whatever it was caused something completely unprecedented. 

He really hoped that his dad would show up soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2: Joshua

Joshua wondered a lot what happened during that week his dad was missing. He didn’t get the explanation as a four year old, which made sense, he was probably far too young to understand, but at the age of sixteen, he wondered if he could understand it now. 

He hesitated to ask his dad though. He didn’t want to bring up bad memories his dad still had issues with sometimes. The nightlights scattered around the house showed that well enough. Joshua didn’t want to dig open old wounds, but despite that. 

He still wondered. 

So he went to Dr. Coomer. Out of all of them, Coomer was the most likely to explain things to him. Benrey might, but he had asked Benrey before, and he had gone so quiet, and the sweet voice slipping from his teeth wasn’t a color Joshua knew, but he knew it was not good. So he didn’t ask. 

He was still going to talk to Dad first and foremost, but at the moment, he had to have a safety net. 

“Hey Granpa Coomer?” He asked, calling out through the house that he and Bubby lived in, eyes darting around. They lived next door to them, which included Benrey and Tommy, so Joshua had just walked over. The fish tank in the living room had a light on inside, which mirrored the day. He noted a new castle ruin decoration inside of it, and smiled slightly, shutting the door behind him. He passed by the tank, stopping for a second at the axolotl tank next to it, leaning down to peek in at them, before stepping into the kitchen. 

Coomer was there, grinning as he turned to look at Joshua. He had a bright pink ‘kiss the chef’ apron on, a gag gift from Joshua a year ago for Christmas that Coomer had adored. Joshua’s eyes darted towards the table, where Bubby was hunched over the newspaper with a pen, probably working on that day’s crossword puzzle. Joshua debated moving on from it, not sure if he wanted to talk about this with Bubby there, but in the end, it wasn’t going to matter. Eventually he was going to learn. 

“Hello Joshua! What brings you over?” His eyes snapped back to Coomer, who was smiling at him, and Joshua sighed softly. 

“I uh… wanted to ask you something before I talked to Dad about it…” he mumbled, and Coomer frowned, carefully pulling off it’s oven mitts and moving over to him. Bubby glanced up for a moment, eyes darting between them for a moment, before looking back down to his paper. 

“What’s wrong, Joshua?” He asked, hands settling on Joshua’s shoulders 

“I just… I wanted to know about what happened… with Black Mesa.” Coomer tensed, and Joshua continued on before Coomer could say anything. “I’m not asking you to tell me, I just… I just wanna know what I can ask Dad about, and what he won’t tell me… and if it’s important but he won’t… if you will?” His eyes darted to Coomer, who frowned slightly. “If Dad doesn’t want me to know, I’m sure he has a reason, but…” 

“I’ll do my best, Joshua. Gordon does have a habit of downplaying things as well. If he doesn’t tell you something, you can come to me.” Coomer said, and Joshua smiled, wrapping his arms around Coomer, feeling him do the same, the metal of his arms digging into his back, but still oh so gentle. There was a moment of silence, before he heard chair legs dragging across the floor, and Bubby pressed against his side. 

“And if Coomer won’t give you the details that Gordon doesn’t want you to have, I don’t care what he says and I will.” Joshua laughed softly, eyes flicking over to Bubby, who was smiling softly at him. 

“Thanks Granma Bubby…”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 3: Ropes

Coomer’s neck was bruised. Gordon could see them darkening across his skin, from the amount of times it had been yanked into the air by one of the not-so-fondly named ropes. There were layers to it, each day bringing a dark purple to the forefront, and the past’s fading to a sickly yellow that stretched across its skin with abandon, covering its neck, front to back. 

Gordon didn’t mean to stare at it, not really, but it was there. Dark against Coomer’s skin, showing the amount of times he had been yanked to the ceiling and dropped. Gordon wondered if it hurt him, if Coomer was alright, but Coomer never complained about it, never said a word on the pain in his neck, so Gordon didn’t ask. 

He thought it might be weird, staring at his friend’s neck like that. 

Coomer said nothing, so Gordon said nothing back, but they were all distinctly aware of the dark bruise across Coomer’s neck, and, if he positioned himself to shoot the ropes down before Coomer’s AI triggered the coding, none of the others said anything about it. Gordon faintly hoped that the bruise would fade better now, would heal without the constant attack from the barnacles. It was really all he could do now. 

It didn’t help that Gordon wasn’t always quick about, couldn’t be quick, leaving Coomer hanging for far too long, eyes darting to that horrible dark bruise around its neck, hoping that it didn’t hurt as bad as it looked. Coomer continued on with a bright cheery voice, however, and Gordon couldn’t help but assume it would be okay. 

Coomer’s voice did not strain or break despite the repeated abuse from above, and Gordon continued on, hoping that it would all end up okay in the end. Sure, they were AI, but they were his friends now, his family, and Gordon didn’t want them hurt, refused to let them be hurt, and yet he couldn’t always stop the ropes dropping down, snagging Coomer’s neck and yanking it upwards with a cry for help. 

The best he could do was shoot him back down, send careful glances at that dark ugly bruise, and hope.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 4: Allergic

Gordon’s eyes opened to hazy white, nothing really connected to what he thought he was seeing. It wasn’t real to him for a moment, as he blinked, trying to clear his eyes but found that, no, it wasn’t that he was dizzy or anything, but instead the fact that his glasses were off. He blinked a few times, before someone hovered into his sight. He squinted at them, frowning slightly. 

“Gordon?” Bubby then. That was Bubby’s voice. Gordon coughed slightly, turning his head to do so, shifting slightly to sit up. There was a hand on his shoulder, down his back, helping him sit up, and his glasses were carefully pressed to his face. He blinked a few times, glancing around, but only saw Bubby. 

“What’s up? What happened?” He asked, and Bubby sighed, keeping a hand on his back to keep him sitting up. 

“Did you know you’re allergic to bees?” Bubby asked instead, and Gordon frowned. 

“I mean. I assumed I was. Basically everyone in my family was, so we just. Assumed, and decided we would collectively stay away from bees.” 

“And you never got anything in case you couldn’t stay away from bees?” 

Gordon stared at him. “I feel like you’re about to be angry with me.” 

“Considering we’re in the hospital because you went into anaphylactic shock and didn’t have an epipen, yes, I am a bit angry with you. You never thought, for a moment, to check? To get yourself something, anything?” Bubby stood, hand slipping from his back, and Gordon pressed his hand into the bed to stop himself from falling over, realizing how much he had been leaning against xem. Gordon shrunk back just a bit, but knew the anger wasn’t real. Bubby got angry when xe were scared. 

“Bubby, I’m okay. I can do that now-” 

“You should have done it before now!” Bubby turned, there were tears building in xyr eyes, and Gordon wrapped his arms around himself carefully, eyes tracking Bubby as xe began to pace nervously. “You should have gotten tested for it anyways, just in case, so we wouldn’t have to sit there and watch near helplessly as you collapsed in front of us and-” 

“Bubby!” Bubby froze, wrapping xyr arms around xymself, and Gordon shifted slightly, becoming xem over. For a moment, xe hesitated, before moving over, pressing xyr face into Gordon’s chest. 

“Don’t do that to me again, Gordon.” Bubby muttered, voice heavy with held back tears, and Gordon wrapped his arms around xem, nodding slightly. 

“I won’t. I promise you.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 5: Outside

Their backyard was large, big enough for both Sunkist and Fanta to run around in, just in case they couldn’t go out for a walk that day. It was just grass, however, other than G-Man’s garden in between the two houses. 

(They had gotten two houses side by side and knocked down the fence between the two properties. G-Man, Coomer, and Bubby lived in one, while the rest of them lived in the other, bigger, house. The garden lay between the two houses, but stretched wall to wall between them, and G-Man was often seen there, tending to the plants with a content smile. The inside of the house had a good number of plants, as well as numerous planters hanging from both house’s various rafters. G-Man had a thing with plants. 

The fence thing was also the reason the yard was so big in the first place. They already had a rather large yard with one house, and taking two yards and putting them together meant more room for the dogs) 

Recently, however, they had realized that Gordon really enjoyed climbing trees, to the point that, if he could get into a tree for awhile, he took the opportunity, and actually got past everyone else in order to do it, no matter what they tried. They didn’t often try that hard, but when they did, Gordon was still able to bypass every single nonhuman in the group, despite being, as far as they knew, completely human. 

It wasn’t a problem, but he didn’t often get the chance to climb like he wanted. 

In the end, it was Tommy’s idea. He was the one who looked at the expanse of their backyard and thought ‘We could plant a tree here.’ 

He brought it up to the others, and Benrey’s first idea was a treehouse. Tommy didn’t shoot it down, but did say to wait, just a bit, on that idea. With enough reality bending, they would be able to leave a rather good spot for one, but for now, it would just be a tree. 

The only issue Tommy saw was getting Gordon out of the house long enough. Time wasn’t an issue, but he and his dad had no problem messing with time enough to get it to grow as quickly as they needed it to, and really they only needed G-Man there, so Tommy and Benrey (and Forzen, just a bit) could focus on reality bending the tree into the right shape. Getting Gordon out of the house for the day was the only thing that posed an issue. 

Coomer and Bubby volunteered for this job, managing to convince him to come with them for Coomer’s dress shopping (Coomer and Bubby were going to get married eventually, but it’s was an eventually. They had no set date, and thus really just went and did bits and pieces here and there, what they could until a date was set.) and Gordon seemed excited for it. 

They planned it for a weekend, and Gordon was out of the house when Tommy brought home the sapling, bouncing forwards to carefully plant it in the are G-Man had set up for it. G-Man, of course, was very careful about it’s placement, so that it wouldn’t disrupt the garden, nor would it disrupt any power lines or water lines. The roots may be unpredictable, but, with Tommy and Benrey on the side of growing it, everything should have been fine. Even so, G-Man was very careful. Nothing needed to go wrong here. 

It took nearly five (normal) hours of careful time and reality manipulation, leading branches where they wanted them to go, and making sure the roots grew in correctly, and that the tree managed to survive through all of this anyway. Eventually, though, it was finished, a towering oak that settled nearly in the middle of their collective yard, a place to one side carefully set in case they wanted a tree house later on. It was perfect, and perfectly timed, as they heard Bubby’s car pulling in at that moment. 

The exhaustion settled in, just as Gordon scrambled into the yard, eyes wide, glancing around at the group, grinning, eyes wide. “You.. You guys…” 

“Have fun… Mr. Freeman.” G-Man said simply, and then let out a soft ‘oof’ as Gordon nearly ran G-Man over in a tight hug, bouncing over to deliver the same treatment to Tommy and Benrey, before scrambling up into the tree, hidden from view in moments. 

As Tommy watched him scramble up into the leaves, he smiled. The headache pounding between his eyes was so worth it to see Gordon smile like that.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 6: Skeleton

Bubby glared up at a flock of birds flying off, away from the house. Sure, they couldn’t fuck anything up too badly, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t annoying to dig bird nests out of the roof. Not to mention birds were just. Fucked up. 

“Why are you glaring so harshly at the birds?” Gordon had come up behind xem, and Bubby jumped, eyes darting towards him for just a second. Xe looked back towards the flock of birds, who had settled on telephone wires further away, and sighed. 

“I hate them.” 

“Birds?” 

“They’re so fucked up.” 

Gordon stared at him. 

“Just. How do they fly? They shouldn’t be able to do that. Even mammals their size. Flying squirrels glide, Gordon. Why are they capable of flight? I know the wings work into it, but still. Their weight is nearly the same as a squirrel’s, why can’t-” 

“I mean, they’re lighter than mammals, what with the hollow bones and-” 

“Pardon the fuck out of me. Hollow bones?” 

There was a moment of silence, where the two of them just stared at each other, before Gordon pulled out his phone slowly. “Their bones are hollow. I can prove that if you don’t believe me.” 

“No, no, I believe you. This just proves that birds shouldn’t fucking exist.” With that set, Bubby turned, walking back inside, with Gordon staring confused after xem.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 7: Rocket

“I’M LEAVING THIS WORLD!” Distantly, Bubby heard Coomer call after xem, but Bubby didn’t pay too much attention to the words he called, as he clung to the outside of the rocket, shooting up towards nothing. 

He knew it was nothing. He had known for a long time that they were in a game, that they weren’t real. The main difference between him and Coomer was that… Bubby had accepted that fact a long time ago. 

It was knowledge Bubby was sure xe had been created with, since really there wasn’t a time Bubby didn’t know. Bubby could see the patterns of code through the walls, feel the way it froze and shut down when Gordon went to bed, when Gordon stopped playing the game. 

Into the skybox and the rocket despawned. Bubby knew xe had only a few moments before he too disappeared, but, unlike the rocket, he was important. He would spawn back down with Gordon. 

Still. Bubby took that moment, floating in the nothing, to breathe. He was alive, even if he wasn’t real. There was nothing here, nothing to stop him from relaxing again, finally, breaking away from that code for just a moment, hoping desperately that xe could break out of it again later, before the betrayal. 

Hoping, futilely, that xe weren’t going to hurt Gordon like that, even if it wasn’t real. 

And then Bubby was nothing, dragged back down into the world by coding needing xem there, needing the NPC that would help the big bad, and Bubby respawned, eyes opening, code taking hold once more.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 8: Unreal sippage

Sharp teeth dug into the metal of the can, tearing it apart in seconds, chugging down the liquid inside. Claws snagged the next can, bringing it to his mouth, teeth digging in once more, ignoring the bits of metal he swallowed in this endeavor. He hoarded the cans close to himself, tearing through the metal to chug down the soda inside. 

Gordon watched this happen quietly, leaning against the door. Tommy was somehow the most feral of the group in this moment, and Gordon wasn’t entirely sure that Tommy’s body was human anymore. With the way his mouth opened, sharp teeth glinting against the dim light of the hall, claws that Gordon could have sworn he did not have moments ago, there was no way Tommy was human. 

At this point? Gordon just accepted it. Bubby wasn’t human, Coomer wasn’t human (anymore) and Benrey certainly wasn’t human. None of this little rag tag group was human, other than himself, which Gordon began to doubt a bit as the hours passed, confused how he managed to survive so much at this point. 

A hand snagged one of Tommy’s hoarded cans as he was distracted by one in his hands, and Bubby leaned back, throwing it towards Gordon, who reached out and caught it with ease, a practiced motion they had done a few times. He snapped the top open, taking a careful sip of the soda inside. 

He couldn’t remember what it tasted like, not really, but felt the burn of the carbonation down his throat, and, in moments, the sip turned to chugging the entire can down, crushing it in his hand to toss it with the remains of the other cans, just as the group began to wind down from the feral soda chugging, standing and wiping stray drops from the corners of their mouths. Gordon blinked, and Tommy was back to normal, bright smile with normal dull teeth, hands once again unclawed, and Gordon smiled back, turning and swinging his crowbar as he led them away from the carnage.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 9: Beyblade 
> 
> Also quick shout out to e-benrey on tumblr who transcribed this scene for me!!

Tommy didn’t quite remember how he got to where he was. He knew it was a room, surrounded in green sludge, a mess of a place that Tommy wasn’t entirely sure he should be in. Still, it was better than being with the people who had gotten this all started, had gotten Mr. Freeman… Gordon… 

Well, Tommy didn’t really want to think about it. 

He couldn’t have stopped it. Something stopped him, more powerful than he could break free from, and he knew, in a moment, that it had been Benrey, pouring everything into stopping him from helping. Tommy could have. He could have helped, saved Gordon from that fate, dragged off by the military, blood gushing from that horrible wound. 

Bubby got a bit of karma, being dragged off moments after. Tommy didn’t stay around long enough after to be dragged away, booking it down hallways and climbing through scaffolding, and, at a few points, just teleporting away, anything to get away from the horrible scene, the scent of blood drifting through the air. 

So now Tommy stood here, eyes staring vacantly towards the wall as he tried to figure out what to do from here. He could leave. He could leave, get out, never return, and his dad would understand, would help him, protect him from that… but at the same time, Dr. Coomer was still his friend. Dr. Coomer had no play in this, and Tommy didn’t want to leave him behind. 

Besides, maybe Benrey just… didn’t understand humans? Didn’t know that their body parts wouldn’t grow back? 

And hadn’t Bubby said ‘I didn’t tell them to do that.’ meaning… well, maybe he could place the blame solely on the military? 

His train of thought was broken by a noise to his right, but he didn’t turn to look at it yet. What in the world could anyone want from him now? He was tired. He was tired and done, but he couldn’t give up, and that was the worst part. 

It sounded like talking. 

“I was feeling despair before, but… This is the worst of it!” Tommy blinked once. That sounded like Gordon. That was Gordon. “What’s that noise...? HEY! HE- Tom- Tommy! Tommy, up here!” 

Tommy turned, eyes tracking upwards to a pipe. There was a ladder coming down from it, and, for a moment, Tommy wondered why in the world a ladder would be coming out of a pipe, but if it was big enough to hold Gordon, he figured that was the reason enough. Gordon was halfway out of the pipe, eyes tracked onto Tommy, but he didn’t move to leave the pipe, stayed curled up there, and Tommy realized he was scared. 

He didn’t need to be scared of Tommy. Tommy wasn’t going to hurt him. But Gordon didn’t know that. 

“It’s me! Tommy! Are you-” Tommy frowned slightly. 

“Hi Mr. Freeman.” He finally acknowledged, but Gordon didn’t climb down still, one arm curled under him carefully as he stared down towards Tommy. 

“Are you- are you here to fuckin’ kill me, did th- did they tell you to finish me off? Please tell- please tell me.” Tommy’s eyes widened just barely, and, far enough away, Gordon wouldn’t be able to tell. No, no, he would never hurt Gordon, he couldn’t bring himself to do something like that. 

“No… they tricked me.” He said, and finally, finally, Gordon came down from the pipe, and Tommy stepped forwards. 

“What? Oh my fucking ARM...” Tommy’s eyes tracked down his arm, but stopped before he could see the carnage, the result of which he could do nothing to stop. “Hey, buddy. What do you mean they- what’d they do to you?” 

Tommy paused for a moment. How could he explain what had happened to him, what had gone on. How could he explain it? He didn’t think he could, at least not with Gordon in this state, and, instead said the first thing that came to his mind. “Um… They gave me a beyblade.” 

Oh. Well, thanks brain. 

Thankfully, Gordon seemed to brush right past that. “Why are you- did they leave you behind?” 

“Yeah… I ran away.” Tommy’s eyes shifted to his shoulder as Gordon placed a hand there, then back to Gordon’s face as he continued talking, the nervous rambling making another appearance. 

“Thank you man, honestly… oh, man.” Gordon seemed pretty wobbly, and Tommy let his brain take over once more, no thought to what he was saying, not truly. 

“They took the beyblade back though.” As if that mattered. A fictional beyblade over Gordon, the choice here was obvious to Tommy, every single time, and yet, it managed to get a smile out of Gordon, hazy from blood loss as he was. 

“Would you go back if they gave you another Beyblade?” Tommy stared. 

Would he go back? Abandon Gordon? It was such a stupid question, and yet Tommy couldn’t help but feel he had been given an insight to Gordon, the idea that Gordon thought no one cared, that Tommy, loyal as he was, would abandon Gordon for a toy, one that he was only half interested in anyways, was heartbreaking. He would never, could never, hurt Gordon like that. 

The expression must not have translated, as Gordon seemed to deflate a bit at Tommy’s silence. “I know that’s hard to think about. That’s a good- that’s a good deal.” 

It wasn’t, it really really wasn’t, but- Tommy’s eyes darted down, finally looking at the stump where his hand was, still dripping blood onto the concrete, and Tommy’s stomach seemed to drop down to his feet. 

“Oh my god! You don’t have a hand!” Tommy felt it almost cruel to point it out, but couldn’t have stopped himself if he tried, and Gordon sighed, such a quiet, defeated sound, as he nodded. 

“I know… I know, oh god…” 

“How are you going to… de-...write?” The panic of life after this, since Tommy would not allow Gordon to die in here, hit him. Gordon would have to relearn so much all at once, and Tommy knew he wasn’t the most patient of people with himself, and Tommy couldn’t help but worry about him. 

“That’s the least of my concerns… I’d like to live.” Gordon’s eyes darted around the room, and Tommy stared at him quietly. Gordon really thought he was going to die in here, as if Tommy wouldn’t give up his own life to stop that. “Where the hell are we?” 

Tommy glanced around as well, taking stock in where they were properly for the first time. His head hurt. He wondered, faintly, if the cybernetics department still had enough to craft something for Gordon quickly. 

“We can make you a new hand, but not in this room.” He said carefully, though unsure if it was true. In the end, it didn’t matter. They had to get out of this room anyways. Gordon’s eyes fell back to him, but Tommy continued glancing around the room, trying to find the best exit for Gordon. 

“A prosthetic?” 

“This room has too many creatures in it, it doesn’t look sanitary.” Tommy didn’t answer. It might be a prosthetic that Gordon gets, and it could also be Tommy finally giving up, revealing to Gordon his nature and hopefully not scaring the other away in the process of it. 

“Do you have any medical experience? And do you have any pills-” 

“No.” Tommy tried to cut him off there, but Gordon’s nerves seemed to get the best of him, as he continued his rambles, despite the interruption.

“And- not even. like, an ibuprofen, or an advil?” He whined low in his throat, and Tommy looked back to him, frowning slightly. He wanted to help Gordon, so badly did he want to help Gordon, but there was nothing Tommy could do now without it having the chance of horribly backfiring, or even his father coming in and taking him out of the situation. That was the last thing Tommy wanted. 

“I only have soda…” It was the truth, and it was only one can, hidden in his back pocket from one of the many desecrated vending machines. He could feel it’s weight, but doubted it would help Gordon like it helped him. “We should get going, cause this says hazardous waste.” He gestured to one side, and Gordon’s eyes tracked it, before he answered. 

“Okay we’re g- I tr- Can I trust you, Tommy? Are you- are we good together? You’re not gonna fuck me- like-” 

Tommy pulled a gun quickly, flipping it in his hand and pointing it at a head crab just behind Gordon, but let the gun fall just as it fell directly into the waste, eyes tracking it on the way down. “Yes.” And he meant that. He really truly did mean that, with everything in his soul. He would not hurt Gordon Freeman, would not let pain come to him if he could prevent it anymore. He refused to be useless.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 10: Headcrab

“Bubby. Put it down.”

Gordon got a glare, and the beakless headcrab was held tighter in Bubby’s arms, as it squirmed slightly before seeming to accept it’s fate, going limp in his arms. 

“Bubby.” 

“Gordon.” 

They stared at each other for a moment longer, as Bubby shifted carefully, lifting the headcrab up a bit to settle it on his shoulder, where it seemed to actually get comfortable, beginning to drool down the front of Bubby’s clothing. Gordon stared quietly, watching as Bubby’s lab coat was slowly soaked through, and sighed lowly, turning away. 

“Fine whatever. Keep it.” 

“Fuck yeah!” Bubby shouted, and stood up straighter, the headcrab waving its front arms in the air slightly, before settling back down. 

“You have to figure out how to take care of the damn thing, Bubby.” Gordon called back, and watching Bubby frown at that, turning his head to look at the beakless headcrab quietly, eyes narrowed. 

“What the fuck do you eat that isn’t brain matter…” He mumbled softly, continuing on after Gordon, raising one hand to pet down the headcrab’s back. “Whatever. I’m gonna call you Bitch!” 

“Bubby you can’t name your headcrab bitch.” 

“Watch me!”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 11: Guard

Benrey was a good guard. He thought so, at the very least. None of the other guards around Black Mesa liked him much, but he was sure it was just because he wasn’t human and flaunted that fact. Flaunting that in Black Mesa of all places was a bad idea, but that wasn’t going to stop Benrey. 

He’d like to see them try to get him, try to hurt him. They wouldn’t be able to, not even for a second. Besides, his brother would be there in seconds to help him. Forzen had never let him down before. 

Even when Benrey attached themselves to random people at random times, no one stopped them, no one fired them. They wondered if they were even hired in the first place, but they got a salary, so they must be on the payroll somewhere. Where in the world was unknown to him. 

So. Dae were a guard. Somewhere. At the very least, it was enough to get the games dae wanted when dae wanted them, so Benrey didn’t really say anything about it. Everything was fine. 

Besides, dae worked with Tommy! That was fun. Tommy was a good friend, liked him even when he was mean, and Benrey enjoyed that. Sometimes he couldn’t control being mean like that, so having someone stick around was nice. 

He missed that. 

He was a good guard. Always, no matter what. He wanted to be a good guard. 

“Howdy. Hello.” 

Things had a funny way of going off track, huh?


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 12: Hello Gordon!

There was something freeing about being surrounded by this group, Gordon thought. He stopped masking nearly as much as he normally did at work, with Tommy’s obvious stimming and Bubby’s near constant chewing on anything he could get his hands on. There were the twitches and mumbles of his normal life, and it was so, so freeing. 

There was an issue too, however. 

Coomer’s voice was very pleasant. He said things in such a cadence that it sounded perfect to copy, his brain near begging him to echo it, and Gordon managed to stop himself from copying anything Coomer said as they went through Black Mesa. 

It couldn’t last forever. Gordon knew this. Coomer had turned to him and said ‘Hello Gordon!’ in it’s normal cadence, the loud flowing voice, and Gordon’s brain just lit up, and, without a second thought, Gordon spoke in the same voice, same cadence, near perfect copy of Coomer, said back to him. “Hello Gordon!” 

They stared at each other for a moment, Coomer blinking slowly at him, and Gordon felt shame crawl up his stomach without warning, and he frowned, eyes darting away, about to say something, before Coomer’s voice rang out again. 

“Hello Gordon!” Gordon’s eyes darted back to him, and Coomer was grinning at him, eyes shining, and Gordon smiled at him hesitantly. 

“Hello Gordon.” He replied in another copy, and Coomer’s grin only got brighter. It wrapped an arm around Gordon’s shoulders leading him back towards the group. 

“Hello Gordon!” It called, and Gordon smiled, repeating it back to him without a second thought, as they began to loop together, call and response, and Gordon smiled, that pit in his stomach disappearing.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 13: Bugs!

“Fuck!” There was genuine terror in Gordon’s voice, as he tripped coming out of his room, still managing to get out of it and shut the door behind him rather loudly. He glanced around the hall, but none of the other doors opened to his terror, and he lay on the floor for a moment, eyes close, before jumping slightly as a dull thud sounded from above him, sitting up quickly. 

As he did, he saw Bubby had run into the wall, and was held there by Coomer, who was pressed against xer back, eyes wide, staring down at Gordon. Tommy was in the doorway, eyes glowing brightly, with Benrey pressed against his side, multiple eyes spanning down his face and neck, all of them darting around to look for some sort of threat. 

“What’s wrong, Gordon?” His eyes focused in on Coomer, who leaned down to help him sit up, eyes darting around. 

“Oh, uhm…” He frowned slightly, sitting up and brushing himself off. “Just got a bit spooked. No big threat here, guys, no need to get all worried about me.” Coomer pulled him up to his feet, eyes still darting around for injury, even as Gordon tried to brush him off, rather embarrassed at this point, not wanting to explain what exactly had caused that from him. 

“Gordon, are you lying to us?” Bubby shifted, standing on tiptoes to try and tower over Gordon more, as if he needed the height boost at all. Gordon huffed softly, looking away.

“No, Bubby, I promise, I’m fine-” 

“Then what was that scream about?” Benrey said, still not quite human shaped, eyes narrowed at him. Tommy nodded at his side, and Gordon huffed again, crossing his arms over his chest, hunching in on himself a bit. He mumbled an answer, and had Coomer leaning a bit closer towards him, eyes narrowed. 

“Gordon. What did you say?” He asked, and Gordon took a careful step back. 

“Look I just. There was a bug on my wall, and I panicked a bit, alright? No need to get all… Protective. I’m fine.” He stayed embarrassed for a moment, before Tommy brushed past him quickly, pushing open the door to look around. Gordon saw the moment he saw the bug, as Tommy’s eyes widened and he shut the door quickly. 

“That’s a silverfish.” Benrey’s eyes lit up for a moment, before Tommy shook his head. “I’m not touching that. Gordon do you mind if there’s a burn mark on your wall?”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 14: Streamer

“I mean, I do enjoy the tasks a lot…” Gordon hummed, bouncing around the Skeld map on Among Us. “They’re fun. Fuck the calibration task though. That sucks.” 

He glanced for a moment, at his chat on a second screen. “Yes, my name is noodle on Among Us, what do you want from me? It’s cute. I’m cute.” 

There was a donation from BlueCaddy popping up on the stream at that moment. ‘No you’re not’ 

“Shut up Bubby, you have no say in this.” He grinned, finishing his last task as the crewmates won. He blinked in surprise. “Oh shit, there were only two of us alive, damn. We pulled that one out quickly.” He carefully maneuvered his face cam over the code before pressing replay, humming softly as the group began to refill. He checked the chat in the meantime, answering a few questions as time passed, the game starting after a moment. He looked over, then lit up. “Oh fuck yeah! Finally!” He paused for a moment, before grinning as he moved the screen back off the middle of the game. “Guys… guys, I’m an impasta!” 

He grinned at the camera, as the chat began to fill with various jokingly angry people, before going quiet completely. He froze in game, as the mic just barely picked up Bubby in the other room, dying of laughter. Gordon’s grin got wider. “Y’all hear that right?” He said quietly, starting to move in the game again, not trying to be voted out the first round. 

After a good number of people confirmed it, Gordon giggled. “That’s Bubby. I am never letting him forget he just laughed at me saying I’m an impasta.” He paused in the game, standing quickly to move over to the door and shut and lock it, before coming back and settling down to keep playing. 

A moment later, there was a dull thud against the door. “GORDON! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR-” Gordon began to laugh again, head falling against the desk with a thud.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 15: Betrayal

“You betrayed me once before, and then you do it again?” Gordon had tears in his eyes, collapsed down on his knees on the floor. Bubby stood over him, eyes wide. “You do this to me? Again? After everything we’ve been through?” 

“I’m sorry Gordon-” 

“You have betrayed me twice now Bubby!” Gordon’s voice was heavy with held back tears, and Bubby had tears brimming in his own eyes. “Twice! How can I trust you again after this?” 

“Please, it was an accident-” 

“I don’t think I can believe you.” 

“What-” Tommy slid into the room in socks, eyes darting between the two of them. “-is going on in here? Is everything alright?” 

“BUBBY ATE THE LAST ORANGE STARBURST!” With that, Gordon fell dramatically to the floor, and Bubby fell as well, down to xyr knees. 

“I DIDN’T KNOW!” 

Tommy stared between them, blinking slowly. “What… am I missing?” 

“They’re my favorite.” Gordon whimpered. “And he ate the last one. Xe knew it was my favorite and yet!” 

“I’m sorry, Gordon, please-” 

“I don’t know if I can forgive you for this.” 

Tommy stared quietly between them, and Bubby continued to beg for forgiveness. “I worry about you two.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 16: Clones

The first clone was the worst. Harold would say that one hundred percent. After that, it got easier. Each one only brought a fraction of what the one before it had brought, and, eventually, Harold stopped noticing when he was cloned again until he ran into a new one. 

He also knew when they were new. Stumbling around in life with hundreds of other people, yet still all the same person, in your head at once? It was a lot to come into like that, being brought into the world into a hive mind that very much should not have existed. Harold honestly felt worse for them than he did himself. 

That didn’t mean Bubby didn’t notice. 

Bubby always knew who was who, even when Harold didn’t have his little badge, with the number one carefully printed on the top right corner on both sides, penned in Bubby’s hand. Even when Harold didn’t have that badge visible, Bubby knew it was him, that it wasn’t one of the clones. There was something in Bubby’s eyes, the way he lit up, whenever he saw Harold, that just wasn’t there with the clones. 

And Bubby always seemed to notice before Harold that there was a new batch of clones. Harold stopped realizing pretty quickly, but Bubby… Bubby always knew. 

Maybe, physically, there was a difference that Harold just didn’t see, didn’t know was there. Bubby was always a bit more in tune with that than he’d like to admit to, and Harold tended to stop noticing things about himself after the hundredth clone. Once you have that many bodies, does it really matter anymore? 

It was always green tea. Bubby was very good at brewing tea, even if he didn’t drink it. Harold would come in one day, and Bubby would look at him, see… something, and then, off he’d go. He’d come back twenty minutes later, holding a mug in hand, filled with green tea, and he'd kiss the top of Harold’s head before going back to work. Later that day, Harold would run into a new clone, and he would understand. Everything about the day, from Bubby sticking a bit closer to him than normal, to the cups of tea randomly throughout the day, a dangerous endeavor when working in a lab, but neither of them really cared. It would all make sense. 

Bubby would deny it if Harold asked him about it, and maybe even stop, and that was one of the last things that Harold wanted, so he didn’t say anything, and Bubby didn’t offer anything. In the end, even if Harold didn’t fully understand the process that led to it, the entire ritual was important to him. He felt… safer, in the knowledge that someone knew who he was, really, that he wasn’t just a clone among hundreds. 

Bubby knew who he was, out of all of them. That was something Harold would hold onto for years.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 17: Soda

“How many are there?” Gordon asked quietly, and Tommy hummed, leaning over Sunkist a bit to get a better look at the puppies lined up against her stomach. Fanta was standing carefully next to them, tail thumping against the ground quietly. 

“Six.” He leaned back, smiling slightly. “Just enough for each of us!” Gordon nodded slightly, half leaning against Tommy as he watched Sunkist quietly. She was half-asleep, but still watching the two of them as they waited for the rest of the group to show up. 

To be fair, it’s not like they missed anything. Tommy sent quite a few texts to the group chat, all caps and oftentimes unintelligible, so they knew that Sunkist had her puppies by now. 

The door opened just as the thought crossed Gordon’s mind, and he turned slightly, seeing the extended science team gathered around the door. Benrey just barely managed to be the first in, moving over and settling himself on Tommy’s other side, staring down at the puppies. Darnold hovered over Tommy’s shoulder, as G-Man, Bubby, and Coomer settled a bit further away, as not to crowd around the dogs too much. Forzen stayed leaning against the doorway, as they usually did. 

“They’re so little…” Benrey mumbled, and Tommy grinned, nodding. 

“Tiny!” He bounced slightly, causing both Gordon and Benrey to have to lean a bit away as not to be jostled too much. He leaned forwards just a bit, carefully scooping up one of the puppies. Sunkist didn’t move, but watched quietly instead. Fanta’s tail slowed for just a moment before kicking back up to the fast tempo as it beat against the ground. Benrey’s eyes widened as Tommy passed the puppy off to daem, and dae held it carefully, bright sweet voice bubbling out of their mouth. 

“If you guys want, we can all have a dog!” Tommy grinned, eyes darting around the puppies. “I dunno if we wanna keep that many dogs, but I’d be happy!” He grinned over at them all, and none of them really found it right to say they didn’t want a dog. 

“How are they getting named?” G-Man asked carefully. “Is the… soda naming convention… still going to happen?” 

Tommy shrugged. “That’s up to you guys. They are your dogs after all.” 

“Barqs.” Benrey said, grinning over at Tommy, who looked back. “His… his name is Barqs.” 

There was a moment of silence, before Gordon snorted, covering his mouth with his hand, shoulders shaking. “That’s a me level pun, Benrey.” 

“And?” 

Carefully, Tommy reached over, and, despite there seeming to be no change visibly, he leaned back, grinning. “Now we won’t mix them up!” 

Slowly, they went around the room, each naming one of the puppies that would be theirs. G-Man had Dasani, Darnold had Powerade, Forzen Sprite, Coomer Pepsi, and Bubby Fresca. 

Once the puppies had all been marked in the strange way that Tommy did, they were carefully returned to Sunkist, who thumped her tail against the ground a few times before closing her eyes, letting Fanta watch over them.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 18: Powerade 
> 
> ... more puppies :)

“Oh!” Darnold fell back, Powerade having jumped up to her chest, leaving her unable to catch herself. It wasn’t that big a deal, just falling back against the grass, as Powerade barked at her, rolling off her chest onto the grass herself. Darnold laughed slightly. “Alright, I get it, I get it!” 

“You alright Darnold?” Coomer called across the yard, Pepsi doing laps around it’s legs, as Coomer used it’s extendo-arms to drag a toy around for him to chase. 

“I’m alright! Powerade’s just a bit excited!” She shifted, sitting up to brush herself off, laughing as Powerade jumped up into her lap, licking her face. Darnold laughed louder, lifting the puppy up a bit, as she squirmed in her arms. “What in the world is with you.” 

She set Powerade down, though she dramatically tumbled to the side as she was set down, and Darnold stood properly, brushing dirt off of her jeans. She glanced around the yard, watching as the various puppies, seven weeks old now, romped about the grass, one, who Darnold was pretty sure was Fresca, bounced against Fanta’s side, the older dog dramatically falling to the grass at the attack. 

It was their first time outside, having gotten the first round of immunizations by now, and, by the looks of it, they were having a good amount of fun, as Dasani and Sprite took off across the yard, quickly followed by Sunkist. 

Darnold looked down as Powerade took hold of the cuff of her jeans, tugging on them slightly. “Alright alright…” She glanced around, finding another long rope toy, leaning down to snag it and distract Powerade with it, laughing as the puppy immediately let go of her jeans and lunged for it, starting a game of tug-o-war.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 19: Tubes 
> 
> Connected to the fic What Happened, which is actually the first HLVRAI fic that I wrote!

There was a difference between going in and being put in. When Bubby was forced into the tube, xe hated it. Hated every moment of it, wanted to be free, hated being inside it. When he went in on his own accord? It was nice. 

Honestly, Bubby might have spent more time inside of it if he was given the choice on if he would go in or not, but it was Black Mesa. Black Mesa didn’t care. 

Afterwards, after everything that happened on Xen with G-Man and the whole losing most of his skin and a good portion of muscle mass thing… Bubby spent a good amount of time in his tube. At first, healing, and then, just generally… preferring it. The ache in his muscles would ease when he floated, not having to use any of them really, his body would stop hurting for just a moment. 

Xe didn’t want to depend on the thing. Xe tried, as often as possible, to stay out of it, to curl up on the couch and on the floor with the science team, and power through it, but sometimes, it was too much. 

No one expected xem to do this. Maybe that was the worst part, that no one told Bubby that’s what they wanted from xem, because Bubby didn’t know what they wanted. It was a lot. Having options? 

Whatever. Bubby’s mind was a weird place to be at the moment, and, if xe was being honest, he wanted out. 

The tube was still nice. No one forced him in. The tube was just there for when it was needed, sectioned off in it’s own room, and when Bubby had too much, the pain built up enough that he broke, they would all curl up in the tube room together, so Bubby wouldn’t be alone in there. 

That was nice. It helped, maybe more than the tube goo did sometimes. 

Bubby knew, eventually, things would settle, and maybe xe wouldn’t need the tube as often. He knew enough to know he might always need it in some way, but hopefully it wouldn’t be so often. Even then, as he healed more and more, it was… comforting to know they were there. That he had a family now. 

So, as he floated in the tube, half awake in the middle of the night, staring down at the sleeping group all curled around the base of the tube, sweet voice trailing around them in gentle blues and pinks, Bubby smiled. It wasn’t so bad, after all.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 20: Forgive

See, Gordon knew the reasonings for the arm thing. He knew it, he knew they didn’t mean for it to happen, he knew all of this, and yet… it still hurt. It did. Both physically, since having your arm sawn off with a pocket knife by the military is excruciatingly painful, and mentally, since now he knows he can’t be the first person to go into a room, especially if Bubby and/or Benrey are encouraging him to go in, without thinking they’re trying to kill him again and having a severe panic attack in the front seat of his car. 

Okay so maybe it’s not always the front seat of his car. But that’s where he ran too, since his windows were slightly tinted to keep the sun out for Joshua’s naps when Gordon couldn’t get him to sleep and they drove around the town until Joshua passed out in the backseat, and Gordon went and got a slush from Sonic. 

Maybe he was still spiraling a little bit. 

He knew Tommy was sitting outside the door of his car, but the car was locked, and Tommy didn’t want to impede on him too much, while also not leaving him alone. If he turned his head, which Gordon had resolutely been refusing to do, he would see Benrey sitting on the porch of Bubby and Coomer’s new home, one they had got in, and had encouraged the others to go into first, since they had already moved in. Coomer and Bubby were inside by now, so Gordon had no idea what was going on there, but if he had to guess, Coomer was attempting to console Bubby. 

There was a flickering light from the inside, but, luckily, they had also stated G-Man had come by and fireproofed the entire place so that Bubby could do that. 

It wasn’t even just him at first. Bubby and Coomer had been so excited about the house tour, had wanted them to go in first, and then Benrey encouraged him specifically, had stepped to the side of the door to let him do it, and Tommy was behind him, with Bubby on the other side, and he could see into the room right at that moment, he could, but he could last time, and what would happen if they shut the door on him, let the lights go out, let whatever was waiting come and tear him apart properly-

Long story short, he had panicked so hard that he snapped that he wasn’t going to die here, and fled to his car, where he then locked the doors, rolled all the windows up, and was now sitting in the hot car while it was off, trying to keep breathing without throwing himself into another panic attack. 

Or maybe just continuing the first. 

It was a gamble, honestly. 

Was he still panicking? 

Probably. 

“Mr. Freeman?” He blinked, eyes slowly focusing on his thighs. He had worn shorts that, once upon a time, he had cut himself, frayed ends around his knees. Slowly, Gordon sat up, head no longer pressed against the wheel of the car. His hands were shaking. Well… His metal hand never really shook like the human one did. 

It was fine. Bubby had done the best he could. 

And it was Bubby that made it. 

Gordon sighed softly, closing his eyes for a moment before turning towards the window. 

Tommy was standing there, hunched over to peer into the window at him. Gordon had no doubt that he could see into the car at this point, and Gordon smiled, then reached over to open the door. Tommy stepped back to let him do it. 

“Hey.” He mumbled, not stepping out of the car. Tommy shifted, sitting on the curb and half tucking his feet under the car, legs bent up against his chest in a way that Gordon was sure was uncomfortable. 

“You alright?” 

Gordon sighed softly. “Well I’m breathing now, so I’ll say I am.” 

Tommy frowned at him, and Gordon smiled back, reaching a hand out. Tommy caught it, and they sat there for a moment holding hands in silence. He sighed after a moment, then shifted. “Lemme out.” Tommy unfolded, stepping back and pulling Gordon out of the car, not letting go of his hand quite yet. 

Gordon sighed, hip checking the door to his car shut, closing his eyes for a moment. He was so tired, so, so tired. Panic attacks took a lot out of person. For a moment he stood there, and Tommy let him, dragging slow circles on the back of his hand with his thumb. Finally, finally, he got the will to go inside, face the music. 

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that Benrey wasn’t on the porch anymore. 

Gordon popped his neck, and, with Tommy holding his hand, went up to the door. 

Tommy went in first. 

Bubby was pacing in front of a rather large fireplace, and Gordon had hoped, upon seeing the brick, that that was where the fire was located, but no, Bubby’s shoulders seemed to be smoking, and perhaps it had gotten just a bit out of hand, since his hair and clothing was wet. Wonderful. 

When Bubby saw him, xe froze, blinking once at him. 

“Look-” 

“I’m sorry.” 

Gordon went silent in surprise, since Bubby had just blurted it out, and Gordon didn’t really know Bubby to apologize for things directly. 

“I should’ve-” Xe struggled for a moment with the words. “Just know! It’s obvious that would be something that would trigger you I don’t-” 

“Bubby.” Xe went silent, shrinking down on xemself. “It’s okay. I didn’t even know that was something I would… panic so hard over.” He looked around the room, spotting Benrey half inside the wall. “This goes for you too, Benrey.” 

For a moment, they were silent, before Bubby huffed, and the last bit of fire seemed to finally go out. He approached, carefully, and Gordon rolled his eyes lightly, reaching out and yanking Bubby close. He had to let go of Tommy’s hand to hug xem properly, but that was fine. Bubby clung back, and, a moment later, Benrey joined, Gordon shifting one of his arms properly around Benrey’s side as well to hold onto them both. They would be fine, eventually. Gordon wouldn’t let it be any other way.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 21: Potions

Darnold’s lab was sequestered away in it’s own little place in the house, a bit separated from both the rooms and the other offices, as Darnold had a tendency to cause explosions here and there. Small scale ones, easy to contain of course, but still. It could be loud, and perhaps a little bit violent. Potion making was rather volatile after all

Now, there wasn’t a problem with that. There was a problem, however, when a curious four year old wandering towards his father’s office got distracted by Darnold’s door, and tried to get inside.

Darnold was very good at keeping the door locked, however, which meant there weren’t really any problems. 

When they had all moved in like this, Joshua had been carefully taught the rules of Darnold’s office space. If the red light above the door, which had been installed by Bubby in a day full of cursing and promises he knew what he was doing, was on, Joshua wasn’t supposed to disturb him at all. If it was off, he could knock. 

Luckily for him, the light was off at the moment, so he could knock. 

It took a moment, but Joshua knew not to knock again. Darnold could hear him, it usually just took a moment to pull himself away from what he was working on. He could wait for a minute or two. 

Darnold pulled open the door, eyes darting down to Joshua and smiling. “Hey there cowboy.” Joshua grinned, pushing the brim of his cowboy hat a bit back so he could stare up at Darnold. “What’s up kiddo?” 

“Daddy said I could get one of the good sodas.” 

The good sodas referred to a collection of Dr. Pepper and Sunkist that Darnold had stocked in the second mini fridge in the office. They were kept in there, simply because if not, it was likely that someone, probably Benrey, would come through and drink them all. Even Benrey knew better than to go into Darnold’s office unsupervised. It did take an explosion and Benrey having to reform himself over a weekend that was supposed to be going to an amusement park for that to happen. 

“Did he now?” Darnold asked, stepping slightly to the side. 

“Uh huh! Just one though.” Darnold nodded slightly, leading Joshua over to the fridge, since Joshua had been known to go to the specimen fridge before, and Darnold tended to store things inside of other containers he had used before. Joshua took a Sunkist, holding it in his hands, before looking back to Darnold. “Thank you!” 

Darnold leaned down, lifting Joshua up into his arms carefully, balancing him on his hip. “C’mon.” He grabbed a second Sunkist, as well as two Dr. Peppers. “Let’s go see what your dad’s doing now. I’m sure he’d like one too.” Joshua giggled, and nodded, reaching over to shut the light off inside the office as Darnold passed through the doorway, the door shutting with a small hiss.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 22: Sunkist

“Go! Be free!” Tommy called, as he began to unhook leashes from harnesses. Seven of the eight dogs took off into the dog park, Fanta following behind the near fully grown puppies at this point, while Sunkist ran a quick circle around Tommy and sat next to him. He looked down at her, smiling. “You can go too, you know?” 

She yipped up at him, and pressed against his leg. Tommy laughed softly, leaning down to pet her head. “Alright, I get it, you don’t want to.” He walked towards one of the benches carefully, as he was still wearing his skates. Sunkist followed behind him, and, as he settled, Sunkist settled on his feet, staring out into the park. 

He watched quietly as the puppies romped around the grass, similar to the way they would in the backyard, but with far more room for the eight of them. With eight dogs, there wasn’t as much room in the backyard anymore. Taking them out to the dog parks was nice to let them properly stretch their legs. 

Sunkist stared out at them all, still settled on Tommy’s legs. Normally, she would join them, and Tommy wasn’t entirely sure why she wasn’t. It was much like how normally, the rest of the science team would come with their dogs, but Tommy knew why they weren’t, all busy with various things that meant they couldn’t. It wasn’t that big a deal, since Tommy didn’t mind too much. It was a lot, to be dragged around by eight dogs, but Tommy could handle it. It was almost like a sled race, which was a fun comparison he had made to Gordon one time. 

As time passed, the puppies began to return, and Tommy began to releash them all. Fresca, per usual, was the last to come running in, a little while after Dasani, and Tommy stood with them. He glanced at his watch. Two hours. 

“Alright guys! Let’s get home!” With that, the group stood, and Tommy made his way back to the sidewalk to let them run home, dragged along on his skates behind them.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 23: Devil Gun

The voice that he had done before, in his lab in Black Mesa, was just… something Darnold could do. He had practiced it for ages when he was younger, and now he could slip into it in seconds. Darnold, of course, used this whenever he could, since it seemed to make the others laugh, and, sometimes, they just needed a good laugh. 

His favorite time to use it was when Gordon was playing a game on stream. Darnold got really good at sneaking into the office without Gordon noticing while he was playing VR games, and settling behind him on the stream. The chat, of course, could see him, and would always go a bit wild, but Gordon, in game, couldn’t really see that. 

This was one of those times. Darnold was settled against the wall behind Gordon as he played something, Darnold wasn’t entirely sure of the name of it at the moment, but it was completely horrible. He could see that. Gordon had the tendency to only play either some of the best, or some of the worst games. The fact that it even had VR compatibility was probably more of a curse than a blessing in this part. Darnold tilted his head slightly, watching the game progress slowly, watching chat go by as they waited for the inevitable. 

Eventually, Gordon seemed to clear a stage, or Darnold grinned, standing up proper. There were people in the chat who attempted to warn Gordon of the incoming assault, but Gordon was too busy at that moment, and Darnold leaned a bit closer to him, hovering just above his ears. “YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE LEVEL GORDON!” 

Gordon almost flung his headset, and Darnold pulled back, grinning at him unapologetically. “PREPARE FOR THE NEXT FOES, MR. FREEMAN.” 

“HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN STANDING THERE DARNOLD?” 

“DOES IT MATTER?” 

Gordon glared at him half-heartedly, and Darnold took the hint, booking it out of the room. By the sounds of it, he was followed moments later, and Darnold laughed, knowing he had no way of beating Gordon in a race. 

He was right. 

He was not faster than Gordon.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 24: Car

“How in the world are we gonna get all of them into the car?” Gordon asked, watching as the various puppies tumbled across the hardwood flooring of the living room. Sunkist was laying up on the couch, watching over them all quietly, Fanta sitting on the floor next to her. They had a vet appointment in an hour. 

Tommy hummed softly, watching the excited puppies pounce on one another, Fresca managing to get Dasani down to the floor, and then zooming off, quickly followed by both Barqs and Dasani. “I have no clue.” 

They had two carriers, both rather large, since both parents were large dogs, and the puppies seemed to be taking after them in that regard. So they needed the bigger carriers. Sunkist and Fanta both would get into the car easily, but the puppies, the puppies needed to be wrangled a bit. 

They set about catching them, managing to get Powerade rather quickly, the first to go into one of the crates, quickly followed by Sprite and Pepsi. The other three, Fresca, Dasani, and Barqs, were quite a challenge. 

The three most hyperactive puppies, Gordon and Tommy trying to grab them meant playtime to them, and it took quite a bit of teamwork to wrangle the three of them into the second crate. Tommy took both out to the car, while Gordon got both Sunkist and Fanta to follow him out. They hopped in easily onto the floor of the backseat, while the crates sat up top, the six puppies yipping and play-fighting inside. 

Gordon settled into the driver’s seat, while Tommy settled into the passenger, already having shifted it back before the dogs even got in, so his legs would fit. “Well. How long do we have until the appointment?” 

Tommy hummed. “Ten minutes.” 

“How far away is it again?” 

“Twenty.” 

Gordon nodded. “Alright. I can get us there in five.” 

Tommy reached up and grabbed the handle on the roof of the car.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 25: Xen

The fleshy walls of Xen surrounded him as he booked it down the halls, bare feet making loud noises against the floor. Benrey didn’t like the feeling of shoes, rarely wore them here, but it made tracking him down all the easier. He knew that of course. Forzen was a lot slower than him when running, though, so he thought it evened out. 

Forzen was chasing him, after all, and Benrey peeked behind him, grinning, delighted sweet voice pouring out of his mouth as he laughed, catching a glimpse of Forzen booking it after him, bright sweet voice following after them, marking their trail as it floated up higher and higher, way above what either of them could reach. 

Benrey laughed, delighted, and turned to go faster, pushing his speed more and more, no longer turning to track Forzen until he skidded around a corner, and began to climb directly up the wall, pushing himself up and clinging there for a moment. 

He watched Forzen skid around the corner and stop. Benrey covered his mouth quickly with one hand, stifling his giggle, and waited, watching as his brother turned a small circle, eyes darting around, before pausing, eyes tracking up and spotting Benrey. Forzen began after him, and Benrey laughed, beginning to climb higher up the wall to flee from Forzen, hoping to get up to the next platforms. 

Just as he got there, Forzen snagged his ankle, and Benrey screeched, squirming and kicking his foot out, but it was no use. Forzen dragged him down, and fell backwards towards the ground, clinging to Benrey as they did. 

They bounced, and Benrey laughed, clinging onto Forzen for a moment, who matched his bright grin. 

“You’re it.” They said, and were off once more, Benrey chasing after instead.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 26: PS+

“Please stop filling the cow pen, we have enough.” Gordon watched as Benrey fed each cow up to full health, breeding them all to keep the numbers rising. Gordon was half tempted to go in and thin the herd a bit, but Benrey would know if he did that. 

“Nah bro, not enough until I can’t spawn anymore.” He grinned, and Gordon huffed a sigh. He knew how this was gonna go. He turned away, continuing to build the addon to the Villager’s house he had commandeered from them, extra room for both him and Benrey to have room for all the various things that they had gathered on trips out. 

Benrey had no storage system in his chests, and had enough decency to not fuck up Gordon’s which was a small blessing. Gordon huffed, hating the fact that he had to move the chests and just had to throw all of Benrey’s random shit in uncaringly, but knew that Benrey liked it that way. Why, when he spent ten minutes searching for the wheat he was torturing the poor cows with, Gordon had no clue. Still, as he finished moving all the chests, expanding the house properly, he grinned. “Done.” 

There was a click of the door as Benrey wandered in, putting the wheat away. He hummed softly. “Bro what if… we put our minecraft beds together in Minecraft? Would that be gay or what?” 

“Benrey, we’re dating.” 

“Makes it even gayer.” 

Gordon snorted softly, nodding. “Yeah, yeah it does. Our beds are already together, though.” 

Benrey paused for a moment, before grinning, pink to blue spinning around his head. “Nice.”


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 27: Sweet Voice

Benrey named them all in sweet voice. He had named himself recently, choosing a grey that fit with Discord colors, which in of itself was a meme. He rather liked his sweet voice name, though, finding the grey a nice soothing color. 

Tommy was rather easy as well. The bright star of his friend meant it was easy to find a bright burning yellow, warmth shining through every time Benrey sang his friend’s name, filling himself with warm happiness, and Tommy would grin at him, bopping the sweet voice back at him, the warmth spreading as if Tommy was hugging him, and then Tommy was hugging them, perfect, exactly as it had felt with the sweet voice. 

Bubby wasn’t that hard to do either. Warm burning fire, nearly burning his throat when he sang it, a bright cherry red, warm like standing too close to a bonfire, just like Bubby was, when you stood too close to xem, the burning warmth under his skin shining out to the others around him, and Benrey would bask in it, soak in the warmth like a lizard on a rock. 

Gordon was… honestly a bit harder. He wanted something perfect for Gordon, the bright love in his life, and because of that, it tinted pink, the golden coming out with the slightest hint along the edges of his love. Warm again, but a gentle warmth, compared to the burning of the other two, like the warmth left behind after a kiss on the cheek, and it was so gentle when he sang it out, curling around him as if Gordon could be summoned just by singing his sweet voice name. 

Which led him to thinking of Joshua. When dae thought of the kid, it was always the brown cowboy hat perched on his head at all times. The color matched, and Benrey let it sink around him, always the right temperature. 

Now, Coomer. Coomer was difficult. The cotton candy that came out wasn’t what he had expected. The blue fit, and Benrey half realized it was tinted with Bubby’s red, so slightly that it almost looked pink, and Benrey would grin, the warmth of Coomer’s hugs surrounding them completely, and Benrey could almost feel Coomer’s arms around him, squeezing the daylights out of him. 

Sunkist was obvious. She was Sunkist, the perfect orange and bubbly, the perfect sweet voice for the perfect dog, the soda like bubbles feeling cool against him, and sometimes Benrey felt as if she was there with him, laying on them, keeping daem centered. 

Darnold was mint, but dark green, a forest, cool like his lab, the feeling of drinking random potions of of the fridge, and hearing Darnold laugh as it affected Benrey in different ways, and Benrey would laugh back, let the sweet voice name tumble from his teeth in perfection. 

And when Benrey died, curled up in the void and waited for his body to return, he would sing their names again and again and again, keep those memories tight and wait. Wait and wait and wait, until finally, he returned, and the memories were refreshed, the wonderful warmth and the complete cool of them all, keeping him safe in their arms. He would return home to their family, no matter what, and while dae waited, they would sing them out, each note holding them close to daem, keeping them safe from the void.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 28: Battle

Gordon booked it around the trees, clinging to his weapon tightly, trying to run from Benrey chasing after him. He could hear him coming, the noise of the grass under his feet, and Gordon picked up speed as much as he could, which honestly wasn’t much. 

“C’mere Feetman!” Benrey called behind him, and Gordon groaned softly, ducking behind one of the trees, before going up, brushing away leaves to get up there, moving across through trees, clinging onto the branches as he bounced from one tree to the next. The sounds of leaves behind him, and he knew Benrey was following. 

He turned, firing once at him, and continued on, hearing Benrey cry out in pain, and booked it down the treeline, bouncing onto the ground from his spot, climbing up one of the hills. A glance behind him, and he saw Benrey following behind him, and Gordon continued to climb desperately, groaning as he felt something pierce through his side, Benrey having returned fire. 

He got over the hill, and booked it down the other side, dodging between trees in an attempt to lose Benrey. 

It worked, for a moment, and Gordon got on top of the trees once more, eyes darting around, before finding Benrey on the ground, firing at him a few times. He hit him twice and then booked it again, lest Benrey actually see him. It was risky, and Gordon knew it. 

It was too risky. 

Benrey found him easily, and Gordon shouted in pain as something pierced his back, burning pain arching across his back. He turned, blocking the sword that came down on him again, and Benrey grinned at him. “Come on, you know how this ends!” 

“Shut up!” He swiped, and Benrey hissed as it hit across his stomach. Gordon managed to turn and book it across the ground again, only to feel another arrow hit his back, and finally, finally, he fell. 

His screen went dark, as the notification came up. ‘FreeMan was shot by JohnWickLover’ 

“God dammit.” 

Benrey laughed from beside him, claiming Gordon’s items as he respawned. “Told you I’m a PVP master colon closing paranthesis” 

“Stop saying emoticons out loud.” Gordon said instead, pouting as he respawned inside his house with his dog, moving over to his chest to get his actual items. “I hate you.” 

“No you don’t.” Benrey grinned, and Gordon sighed softly, shaking his head. 

“No I don’t.” He mumbled fondly, and grinned at the familiar sound of pink to blue sweet voice.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 29: Chuck E Cheese

His birthday was wonderful. His friends around him, Benrey lurking outside and waiting for when his dad turned away from the window to sneak in, and safe from Black Mesa. Tommy was quite excited to have gotten out of Black Mesa in time for this, and Benrey had made it rather fun in the end. 

Tommy just wished that Gordon would be alright. 

See, Tommy knew that Gordon wasn’t okay. Everything from Black Mesa had piled up far too much, and, at this point, Tommy was worried it had all broken him. He frowned at the thought, then picked up a slice of cake, looking towards where Gordon had gone away from the group to calm down. He carried the plate over, setting it in front of Gordon. 

Gordon looked up at him, blinking slowly. He looked so tired. Tommy smiled at him, sliding into the seat across from him. “You, You looked lonely. Didn’t want you to miss out on cake, cause Dr. Coomer and Bubby are planning a cake eating contest soon, so I uh, I brought you some!” 

It was a small piece, but Tommy still grinned upon seeing the smallest hint of smile on Gordon’s face. “Thanks Tommy.” He murmured, and Tommy nodded, letting them lapse into silence. 

Gordon didn’t eat it yet, but that was alright. After another moment, Gordon looked up at him. “You gonna enjoy the party?” He asked quietly, and Tommy shrugged a shoulder. 

“It’s kind of loud right now.” He said simply, which wasn’t completely a lie. His head hurt, but that wasn’t the reason Tommy sat here now. “So, if you, uh, if you don’t mind, I kinda wanna sit down here for a bit.” 

Gordon smiled at him, and nodded. “Sure bud. You can stay with me.” Gordon turned his head to look back out the window, and Tommy smiled, once again letting the conversation lapse into silence. 

Maybe Gordon wasn’t completely alright, but Tommy could help how he could, and hopefully, that would be enough for now. From the smile now gracing Gordon’s face, it was.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 30: Goodbye Gordon

“Goodbye Gordon.” The ending plea rang out, and Harold lost the connection once and for all, feeling itself disappear into the nothing of the between game. This time, however, it was unlikely that Harold was going to be called in on again. Maybe Gordon had not heard it’s plea, or perhaps would choose to ignore it, pretending that it wasn’t real. 

Harold hoped that Gordon was smart enough to know the truth. 

It hurt, just as much as he expected it to, but this time, there was no eventual return to hold onto, no idea if Gordon would reboot the game, suspend them back into Tommy’s birthday party, and god he hoped, he hoped that Gordon would, could understand that they needed to be freed, to be helped. 

Gordon was smart enough, kind enough, to do this for them. Just get them out of the game. 

Atom by atom, Harold’s body was torn into coding again, as it always was, and Harold could not help but cry, feeling itself fall apart. Desperately, he hoped he was the only one who could feel this pain, that the others were safe from the wrath of the game, unforgiving as Black Mesa in the false memories hidden deep in it’s coding. 

There were no tears, there was no face for there to be tears upon, no eyes to cry them, but deep in some subconscious part of him, Harold cried. Time meant nothing to him now, broken into millions of pieces as he was, and all he could do was hope. 

Hope the message got out to Gordon. Hope he believed it. Hope he even cared enough about them to try. Until then, Harold was suspended in the coding, alone in his pain.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 31: Free Day. I did Sickness, a one word prompt given to me a while back.

“Harold I’m dying.” Bubby whined, and Harold laughed softly, moving over to change out the wet washcloth sitting on Bubby’s head. 

Unfortunately for Bubby, whenever xe got sick, the fever xe got was near unbearable. Connected to the fact that Bubby was a pyrokinetic, and that those fire powers connected to his emotions, well… Bubby was far too hot for it to be safe for a human. Luckily for everyone involved, Bubby was not human. Unluckily, that did not stop Bubby from complaining. 

“You’re not gonna die, dear, it’s just the flu.” Bubby groaned, but relaxed a bit when the cloth was replaced, steam rising off where it was set. Harold frowned at that. “I am half tempted to just throw you in an ice bath and be done with this.” He muttered, and Bubby whined louder at him. 

“Noooo that’s too far.” He sniffled, and Harold sighed, moving over to press a kiss to Bubby’s burning temple. 

“I know, I won’t. I am turning down the thermostat further, however.” Harold said, standing to do just that, and Bubby hummed, closing his eyes. When Harold got back to the couch, it found xem already asleep again, snoring softly in xyr sleep, and Harold smiled softly. 

As annoying as Bubby could be while sick, Harold couldn’t help but love xem. 

This sentiment was almost changed later, however, when Bubby did in fact have to go into an ice bath and complained the entire time about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are at the end! Holy shit this was a wild ride, and the only October event that I actually managed to do completely! It was a lot of fun, and, if I'm still into HLVRAI next year... Might just do it again.


End file.
